Boxing and some contact martial arts sports are being forced underground and out of existence because of the damage the athletes sustain in a fight. These sports are some of the oldest known to man and unless something is done soon, public support will end these sports. A number of countries have already outlawed professional boxing, such as Sweden. Only amateur boxing with protective headgear is permitted. The Air Force, which had boxing as a mandatory training requirement was just forced through public pressure to release the mandatory status. Boxing is still mandatory in the Army and Navy, but it, as well as boxing in the Olympics, is being threatened. Why is the public and the medical community working so hard to have these sports extinguished, while at the same time paying millions of dollars to athletes who participate?
Medical research has shown that boxing and contact martial arts causes various medical problems. Since the goal of the sport, like all sports, is to win and the quickest way to win is by knockout, most of the injuries are due to trauma to the head. Concussions, brain damage, mouth, eye, ear damage, and even death may occur. It is well known that professional boxers can develop chronic traumatic encephalopath (dementia pugilistics). Analysis of ex-boxers' brains show the same traits as that of Alzheimer's Disease. Pharyngoesophageal perforation secondary to blunt neck trauma, which can occur with boxing can cause serious morbidity and mortality if not recognized and treated. Psychomotor performance and cognitive functions are also affected by chronic trauma and may cause the onset of Parkinson's Disease. Eye damage often occurs including injury to the eye lid, angle abnormalities, slight lens opacities, posterior vitreous detachment, peripheral retinal scars, retinal tears, and atrophic holes. But knockouts are the worst. A knockout in boxing entails a deliberate state of unconsciousness. Acute Suboural Hematoma, which is the most common acute brain injury in boxing, accounts for 75% of all acute brain injuries and is the leading cause of boxing fatalities.
There have now been many medical studies which have concluded that the use of protective headgear greatly reduces the chance of any injury from brain to eye damage. The problem with headgear is that it does not provide the feedback required for amateur fights, which makes scoring difficult. For professional fighters, the lack of feedback and protection of headgear means that the force behind a punch has less meaning and less excitement for fans. Professional boxers therefore, fight without headgear.
The proposed product will have the ability to both protect the boxers and martial artists, while at the same time reward the boxers and excite the fans by providing force and punch feedback. There are an enormous number of possible future developments for training as well as standardizing scoring.
This product is designed to give new life to boxing and the martial arts, which will be forced out of existence otherwise. The product will prevent death, brain damage, eye damage, and other trauma, while at the same time provide fans and the boxing competitor with more information such as the force of a punch, number of punches and location of punches. It will also allow referees to respond to punches below the belt and call technical knockouts based on punch data, not brain damage. Trainers and athletes will be able to use the product to become more effective and monitor their performance.